Last Monday, Saudi Arabia unveiled an ambitious long-term economic plan to make the Kingdom less reliant on oil. The plan, titled “Saudi Vision 2030,” will be implemented over the coming 15 years with the aim to build a “prosperous and sustainable economic future.” In addition to regulatory, budget and policy changes, the planned economic diversification also involved selling about 5 percent of shares of the giant Aramco oil company, localizing industrial equipment sector, creating 90,000 jobs, raising the share of non-oil exports in gross domestic product from the current16 percent to 50 percent.
Other reforms include creation of the “largest sovereign wealth fund in the world,” building high-quality tourism attractions, lowering the rate of unemployment among the young population from 11.6 percent to 7 percent and increasing women quota in the work force to 30 percent.
Economic experts are busy analyzing prospects of implementing this plan especially when oil prices are at an all-time low.
The announcement took some observers by surprise. However, those who know the Kingdom and its leadership were not surprised at all. Since the day Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman ascended the throne, he has been busy taking decisive measures.
Bold and decisive, as one expert has described him, King Salman is determined to put the country on the right track by reengineering local institutions and councils, shaking the hierarchy of the executive power and asserting the Kingdom’s role as leader of the Arab and Muslim worlds.
The Saudi Vision 2030 is the brainchild of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. While announcing the economic plan and during his interview with Al-Arabiya, his intellectual potential and economic know-how were crystal clear. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “He has a very good group of advisers and the plan is not a desperate but a deliberate preventive measure.”
It was clear that the deputy crown prince wasn’t gambling because the future of the whole nation is at stake. To those who are skeptical about the success of the plan, he has proved that he is not beating about the bush but in fact it was evident that he was fully confident when he said that the forefathers had run the country without oil and “we can live in 2020 without oil” and that the Kingdom has three points of strength: Its Arab and Muslim depth, its investment strength and its geographic location.
His interests were also clear: Improving quality of life for the Saudi citizens, promoting culture, entertainment and tourism, building museums and excavating ancient civilizations in the Arabian Peninsula.
He has also proved to be sensitive toward the poor as is evident from his statement, “It is unacceptable that power and water subsidies should go to the rich.”
To him, there are no exemptions: “Power and water tariffs will be applied to princes and ministers. Any subsidies will be for the disadvantaged and low-income people…”
This is an indication that the leadership is determined to fight the opportunists who were amassing wealth through corrupt means at the cost of the country’s economic security and its international reputation.
Saudi Arabia on a new path
Saudi Arabia on a new path
Letters on Afghanistan: For Rahimullah
As an Op-Ed editor, I know that people are deeply attached to the opinions they put down on paper. They’ve worked on every comma and capital letter. I’ve edited the words of ex-Presidents, ex-army chiefs, sitting ministers, diplomats, experts and journalists. I have fought hard battles just to edit the titles of pieces, to move a paragraph up or down, to cut out a line. All my writers are distinguished and knowledgable, and so all of them prefer their work published a certain way. All writers, maybe all people, have a natural vanity about their opinions.
All of them that is, except Rahimullah Yusufzai.
Rahimullah, who died on Thursday, was an award-winning Pakistani journalist, and spent his life reporting on Afghanistan. He was the stoic narrator of its long theatre of war, his credentials faultless and his word held in the highest esteem by people on all sides of that conflict. Famously, he interviewed both Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden, and the iconic 1998 photograph of bin Laden smiling inside a neon green tent was taken by his hand. It is not a stretch to say only a few other journalists are as high an authority on Afghanistan as Rahimullah was.
But side by side, Rahimullah was a reporter in the truest sense. He would call me up, because he wanted to ‘hear from his editor.’ He would send updates to his columns late into the night. He would pitch his pieces for me to assign.
“Is my topic fine, editor?” he would ask.
I’d laugh.
‘For Amal,’ was the title of his columns. As though he had written it only for me. A letter, not a column, on Afghanistan.
“Sir, you were in Kandahar reporting on these guys when I was in kindergarten,” I told him.
“But you are still the editor,” he said.
Rahimullah never questioned the edits, he never protested about the titles, the extracts, the tweets. He did his work, he wrote his reports and his columns, and then he passed on his 800 words to ‘the editor’ with ultimate faith. It was his faith not in me, but in the institution of journalism.
In January last year, Rahimullah lost his wife and didn’t write for three weeks. He sent me an apology and an explanation as straightforward as his reporting.
“It was Allah's will and we have no say in these matters,” he said.
Throughout his illness, he continued to write for us at Arab News. When Kabul fell to the Taliban last month, all of us naturally turned to him for his point of view. It could be nobody else. Who else but Rahimullah could write on the most important development in Afghanistan in two decades. Though seriously ill and very frail, when asked he said simply, “Yes, I will write.”
His last piece was published with us on Wednesday, only a day before he died.
Rahimullah always emailed his pieces untitled. Instead, the document was named after myself and my colleague, Iraj. Perhaps this was the result of decades of typing up quick copies for the wires.
‘For Amal,’ was the title of his columns. As though he had written it only for me. A letter, not a column, on Afghanistan.
Well, I now have three years worth of letters written by one of the greatest reporters of our time, addressed to me.
It has been the honor of my life to work with Rahimullah, and though there will be many Afghanistan columns falling into my inbox in the months and years to come, never again will one be as true or as humble-- or be written only for me.
Rest in peace, sir.
– The writer is an editor, Arab News Pakistan.
Tweets @amalkhan
EDITORIAL: Jeddah floods a reminder of why we need the anti-corruption drive
For the residents of Jeddah, rain has, more often than not, brought trouble and devastation. Whenever the skies open up, thoughts go back to that “Black Wednesday” of November 25, 2009, when more than 100 people lost their lives and property worth billions of riyals was destroyed. An investigation was opened into the disaster and some of the guilty were taken to court and tried; some of the small fry were even jailed. As has been the case in the past, the mighty arm of the law could barely touch those at the top who enjoyed immunity from prosecution.
And so it was business as usual until the rain began to wreak havoc again, reminding us that the laws of nature take their course and that hiding your head in the sand does not chase the clouds away.
Having said that, it must be admitted that, yes, lessons were learned. A disaster management team was set up. The weather forecast department became active in issuing alerts. In fact, Tuesday could have been far worse had it not been for the timely alert from the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) and a prompt decision by the Ministry of Education to suspend classes, schools and universities in and around Jeddah. That helped in keeping people and vehicles off the streets. At noon on Tuesday, it looked as if the city were under some kind of curfew.
The questions that are on everyone's minds right now are: Why is it that rain renders the city helpless and immobile at this time every year? Why have efforts to create effective rainwater drainage systems not borne fruit despite pumping billions of riyals into new projects such as dams and canals? Why is it that the authorities are found wanting whenever heavy rain occurs? More importantly, what is the solution?
Here is the answer. These floods are a stark reminder of why the current drive against corruption is so essential. It is required in order to instill the fear of law into high-ranking officials and heads of construction companies and civic bodies who have failed in their responsibilities. Those who have cut corners and have pocketed public money, those who have not delivered on the projects and who have provided substandard services must pay for their sins of omission.
This is exactly what is happening. No one is above the law. The guilty, whoever they are, however high up they are, will have to pay — and they are. In this new era of transparency and accountability — initiated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — word has gone down from top to bottom that no one is immune. If you are guilty you will be punished. Those responsible for the havoc of the floods on Tuesday will have no rest either.
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Syrian civil war
According to a UNICEF report, grave violations against Syrian children during the war have been recorded. The children in Syria are not only maimed and killed as a result of bombings but also forcefully recruited to be part of the conflict. Children as young as 7 years old are pushed into the front line as fighters, suicide bombers and executioners! The actual figures of those injured, dead and forcefully-recruited children are far higher than in the UNICEF report.
The innocent children “used” in the conflict have had the right to blossom, the right to enjoy life and the right to be on a play-ground torn from them. They have been deprived of the right to education and, according to UNICEF, nearly two million children have been forced to stop their education with one-third of school buildings rendered inoperative due to destruction.
With their often physically crippled parents, the children have to be the sole bread-winners in nearly 75 percent of Syrian households. Unwillingly, the children are forced to serve as garbage collectors, hairdressers and cleaners. Keeping aside what Assad gets out of this war, the beneficiaries of the war are weapon manufacturers who may well be dubbed parasites living on the blood of innocents.
Assad, the inhuman butcher of humanity, does not care what the world says, opines, suggests and warns about the catastrophic war in Syria. More than the ruinous acts of Assad, Russia and Iran, it shocks, grieves and pains to see that the world and the Muslim world has done nothing to stop the butcher of this century from his brutal and barbaric destruction of his own nation and his own people.
Public transport in Jeddah
It is getting more expensive to travel by limousine; a one-way journey used to cost up to SR15 ($4), but now customers can expect to pay SR20-25. Teachers and students are the worst affected.
Hiring a taxi or small van can incur monthly costs of up to SR600 per person, which is atrocious. Most drivers demand to be paid at the start of the month, with weekends off. So if there are proctoring duties at the weekend, one needs to hire a regular taxi, which adds to the cost.
Jeddah is very popular among Saudis and expatriates. It has a constant flux of religious tourists, guest workers and Saudi citizens who come here to work. Compared to other cities in the Kingdom, Jeddah is cheaper in terms of housing and consumer items. Considering the large number of people on the go, it is very strange that the authorities have not looked into this most important of issues.
There should be public transport in the city, such as buses and small vans that can carry a number of people at one time on fixed routes, just like elsewhere all over the world. Such transport is cheaper and more convenient, especially for those who need to commute every day. In terms of cultural considerations, there can be an opaque partition separating men from women and children.
With burgeoning costs of living, taxes on remittances and rising residency fees, a smooth public transport system is needed, and should be among the government’s top priorities in future city planning.
Bad girls
The article does not say what started the brawl, but for young women to behave in such a manner is a disgrace to themselves, their families and reflects badly on all Saudi women. But as much as their behavior should be condemned, it would have been helpful if we understood the cause of the fight. By knowing the cause, we might better understand why such young ladies would engage in such aggressiveness.
But in the end, is it really necessary to expel nine girls from the university, denying them an education at a crucial point in their lives? Suspension, yes. Certainly probation for the remainder of their studies. But to ban the girls from ever obtaining a higher education at a Saudi university denies them an opportunity to become productive members of Saudi society.
